Fall play, Fall play, Wherefore art thou?

This year’s classic fall play will be performed in a modern way due to COVID-19. 

According to High School ESL Aide/Spanish Translator and Drama Club Advisor Mr. Stephan Aguirre, this year’s play will be completed as a student film.  

He said that even though completing the play as a film was his idea, there was “heavy input from the students.” Mr. Aguirre said “I thought this would be a fun alternative,” since it will not be possible to have an audience in the auditorium.   

This year’s production will be “an abridged version of Romeo and Juliet.” “I gave the kids two different play options, and they chose Romeo and Juliet,” Mr. Aguirre said.  

The release date for the film is undetermined at the moment. Due to the school district’s move to virtual classes until after winter break, the film schedule halted. “The school will put it up for viewing on the district site/ YouTube,” he said. It will be available for everyone to see.  

The cast includes Senior Jaydon Cottage as Romeo, Senior Leslie Krebs as Juliet, Junior Ian Keefer as Tybalt, Senior Ryleigh Mabus as Mercutio, Senior Riley Lewis as Nurse, Senior Josh Allison as Benvolio, Freshman Ely Reitz as Friar Lawrence, Senior Jordyn Aunkst as Count Paris, and Junior Kayli Johnson as Prince Escalus. Many of these actors will be playing more than one role and appearing as background characters or extras.  

Mr. Aguirre said there are some difficulties in this production. Since the play is part of the theatre program, he said filming is a little out of his element and has been a challenge. “But we are learning as we go and making the most of it,” he added.  

Kayli said that she thinks completing the play as a student film is interesting. “It’s pretty new for all of us so there is a learning curve, but I like how we have the convenience of being able to redo shots,” she added.  

“The advantages (of filming) are that we can redo scenes until they turn out the way we want them to be, where on live stage you can’t. You have to make sure everything is perfect and you only have one chance,” said Leslie.  

“A disadvantage is that you don’t have an audience that you can react with. They can give you a lot of energy to work off of… You don’t have that crowd laughing or reacting to help you so it can be harder to use your expressions and emotions,” Leslie said. She added that she thinks the halt in filming will positively impact the outcome of the film since it gives them time to come up with improvements.